CRC Press Post-Oil Energy Technology: The World's First Solar-Hydrogen Demonstration Power Plant

A solution to the climate and energy crisis The reversible fuel cell (RFC) described in this volume stores solar energy and thereby makes it continuously available. This can make the building of energy-free homes and all electric transportation a reality. The foldout drawing at the back of this book also describes the detailed design of the world’s first 1,000 megawatt solar-hydrogen power plant. How is this possible?Our planet receives more solar energy in an hour than humans use in a year. In fact, 5% of the Sahara could meet the total energy requirement of mankind. This energy can then be stored and transported in the form of hydrogen. Converting from an exhaustible energy economy to a clean, free, and inexhaustible one In this timely book, author Béla Lipták explains why a solar-hydrogen economy is technically feasible and cost-effective. He first outlines existing conservation technologies and renewable energy processes as well as evolving technologies, such as energy-free homes, roof shingle solar collectors, and RFCs. He goes on to discuss energy optimization techniques that could reduce the global energy consumption by one third and finally presents the detailed design of a full size solar-hydrogen power plant. It is time to harness the power of solar energy With global energy consumption quadrupling in the last fifty years and atmospheric carbon dioxide reaching the highest level ever recorded, now is the time to prevent further damage to the planet and ensure the survival of human civilization. It is debatable how much time we have before our fossil and uranium deposits are exhausted. It is also debatable how much climate change we can live with or how much of our economic resources should be devoted to stabilizing and reversing mankind’s growing carbon footprint. What is not debatable is that our resources are exhaustible and that we must not give reason for our grandchildren to ask, "Why did you not act in time?".